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The life and career of George Sarton: The father of the history of science
Author(s) -
Garfield Eugene
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
journal of the history of the behavioral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.216
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1520-6696
pISSN - 0022-5061
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6696(198504)21:2<107::aid-jhbs2300210202>3.0.co;2-k
Subject(s) - george (robot) , history of science , centennial , humanism , bourgeoisie , eugenics , german , art history , classics , philosophy , sociology , history , law , political science , theology , politics , epistemology , linguistics , archaeology
The year 1984 marked the centennial of the birth of George Alfred Leon Sarton, the father of the history of science. Sarton was the author of numerous major works in the field, including the three‐volume, 4,236‐page opus Introduction to the History of Science , which many still consider one of the field's most definitive and ambitious works. Sarton also founded the field's primary journal, Isis , which he edited for forty years. But in spite of the importance Sarton placed on the history of science, he considered the discipline a means, not an end. Sarton's ultimate goal was an integrated philosophy of science that bridged the gap between the sciences and the humanities‐an ideal he called “the new humanism.” The forces and ideas that molded this idealistic scholar were a unique confluence of his Old World bourgeois upbringing and the experiences under German occupation during World War I that forced him to seek refuge in the United States.